ᗯᕼEᑎ TᕼE ᗪEᗩᗪ ᑕOᗰE ᗩᒪIᐯE [ ᴅᴀʀʏʟ x ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ]

- 17 -

The three of us were forced to walk blind through the forest. Orders were barked at us as they told us which direction to turn as they dragged us along. I tripped frequently through the trip, unable to see the branches and rocks scattered beneath my feet. Eventually, we stepped upon a solid path and were instructed to wait.

Suddenly we were shoved into a car, and they duck taped our hands. I listened as the ginger lady began to repeat a distress code into the walking for a location to meet at. They rambled on about protocol among other things that didn't necessarily seem important at the time.

After some time driving, the car came to a stop. We were yanked out of the car with the sound of keys jingling, and a door being unlocked. We were brought inside what they referred to as their "safe house", however, when the bags were finally removed from our heads we were face to face with the undead. The ginger killed them right before us, and proceeded to demand us on the ground. She had Maggie sit on one side facing the door with Carol on the opposite wall by the door. I was put on the back wall furthest from the door. After everyone was spread apart, they duck taped our legs to make sure we couldn't move, and put a gag in our mouth so we were unable to speak.

The woman who held a masculine appearance stepped out of the room to kill some of the stranglers wondering around the building. The dead body was dragged out of the room by the blonde woman.

"Paula I need back up!" The masculine woman shouted to the ginger. The woman now known as Paula stood up responding to the call, but she turned to us first.

"I want to kill all three of you right now, it's taking all I have not to so go ahead, I dare you, try something" she warned us, pointing her gun in our direction before sprinting out of the room, and slammed the door behind her.

The moment the door closed, Maggie quickly began looking around the room for anything to cut the duck tape with, but when nothing of use was found she opted for rubbing the tap against the corner of the wall. I shifted my gaze to Carol. A necklace with a metal cross had been left behind as the dead body was dragged out of the room. I noticed Carol scoot the necklace towards her where she messed with it by her side. While observing the two, I messed with my boots. I had a small blade hidden within them in case of a situation like this. Just then, the nose subsided from the other side of the door, and they began to return to the room we were being held in. Maggie and I quickly moved back to a normal position, but Carol had other plans. She began to breathe heavily, is she hyperventilating?

Paula and the two other women entered the room with the injured male. They set him on the ground to lean up against the wall on the other side of the door. The ginger tied a rope around his bleeding arm to slow the blood flow in that arm. Carol continued to breathe heavily, and unsteady the whole time.

"Carol" Maggie shouted in a muffled voice through her gag. Carol's behavior remained unchanged, leading Maggie to attempt to get Paula's attention instead. Finally, after some incoherent shouts, Maggie got the gingers attention who turned to her with an annoyed look. She walked over to Maggie and yanked the gag out of her mouth so she could talk.

"What?" She snapped.

"She's hyperventilating somebody needs to take her gag off" Maggie quickly said as she gestured towards Carol. The older woman shrugged, but walked over and pulled the gag off of Carol.

"She's a nervous little bird ain't she" the woman commented as she looked down on Carol whose breathing started to slow down. From the corner of my eye I could see the woman with the masculine build move agitatedly. I shifted my gaze as I watched her walk over with he pointed at Carol.

"Look at you" she said, " bitch how did you make it this far."

"Honey you need to take some yoga breaths and calm your ass down" the older women spoke to Carol. As she did, the older woman noticed how Carols hands were fighting with on of her pocket. With caution, the woman reached down and pulled Carols arms away from her pocket revealing the cross necklace within her grasp. Upon the necklace being exposed, Carol moved the necklace near her face as she held onto it while take deep breaths.

"Oh" the old lady said, "your one of those."

From where I was seated, I could see Maggie looking at Carol with confusion evident in her eyes at Carols behavior. Maybe Carol's acting?, I questioned based off the situation we were in. The room went silent before Paula looked over to me before turning the the blonde woman.

"I suppose I might as well take your gag off as well since that's apparently what we are doing now" she spoke sarcastically. Paula walked over to me, I lightly scooted away as she did. I wasn't scared—not of how easily they could kill me—but because they were unfamiliar people. I don't like unfamiliar people.

The ginger grabbed my arms and pulled me towards her, ripping my gag out of my mouth.

"See, it wasnt that hard" she said, now walking over to Carol. She stood directly in front of her, hands in her hips.

"What are you so scared of?" She asked, "are you actually afraid to die?" She scoffed.

"All this and your scared of getting your ticket punched" she spoke in a disgusted tone. Carol looked up at Paula, meeting her eyes.

"It doesn't matter what happens to me. . . just don't hurt them. . and don't hurt the baby" Carol spoke softly, holding the cross necklace tightly in her hands as she looked at Maggie. The two turned woman turned around.

"Yeah right" the masculine woman blurted out in disbelief. She looked at Maggie with cold eyes.

"She's got a bun in the oven and she don't even look it" said the man.

"I'm only two months I think" Maggie responded in an emotionless tone. Paula looked down on her with a look of interest.

"Your some kind of stupid getting knocked up at a time like this" she said. Maggie let out a laugh.

"You think that's funny?" Paula asks.

"When was it ever smart to get knocked up?" responded Maggie, "women used to just die in childbirth and they always thought the world was gonna end" she concluded.

That's true. . I spoke in my head. It was obvious to Paula that she viewed children in this world as a burden. She valued survival over growth, however, the way Maggie and the others viewed her pregnancy was much different. They saw the act of bringing a child into this world as a blessing, and hope for a future.

Paula walked out after the conversation had ended leaving us with the others. I watched as the blonde woman walked around, pulling out a cigarette which she placed between her lips. As she lit the end, inhaling the smoke, she instantly began to cough. Carol protested against the woman smoking in the same room as Maggie due to it being bad for the baby, but the woman brushed it off saying she had bigger problems than her second hand smoke. The masculine woman gave the older woman a strong look that said 'put it out'. After some hesitation, she put out her cigarette with an annoyed sigh as she began to complain. In doing so, the woman began to violently cough.

"Those things will kill you" I whispered. I knew the dangers of addiction.

"They already have" she said as she shows me her hanker chief with blood on it.

"I'm a dead woman walking. . . which puts us in exactly the same boat" she smiled as she pointed at me.

"I doubt that" I whispered quietly as the lady started coughing again.

I refuse to die in a place like this . . .

___________________
Chapter 17: End